Careful Hands, Crooked Plans

Careful Hands, Crooked Plans

Two Stories About Art, Loss, and the Messy Road Back

Careful Hands, Crooked Plans is a compilation of two novelettes that follows the Fivers — a lifelong group of friends — through two chaotic, heartfelt storylines that prove growing up is easier when you don’t have to do it alone.

In Ink & Wood, Liam is juggling too many things at once: a handcrafted desk he’s racing to finish for the Everwood Awards, a brother preparing to move across the country, and a grief he’s kept buried under jokes for years. Between sawdust, deadlines, and an unexpected chance at a real stand‑up comedy gig, Liam is forced to confront what he wants his life to look like — and who he is when he’s not the one holding everyone else together.

In Lost & Found, Harper’s world tilts when her family’s treasured painting is stolen from her home. Her search leads her into the orbit of an underground art auction, and what follows is less a sleek heist and more a “non‑heist heist” powered by iced matcha, questionable planning, and the unwavering loyalty of the Fivers. The goal is simple: get the painting back. The execution… not so much.

Together, the two stories explore friendship, legacy, and the crooked, hopeful ways people rebuild themselves when life refuses to stay tidy. Funny, warm, and full of heart, Careful Hands, Crooked Plans is about the families we’re born into, the families we choose, and the plans that go sideways in the best possible ways.